Yeoh Mulls Suu Kyi Biopic

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh arrives for the premiere of a film in Studio City, July 27, 2008.

AFP

Michelle Yeoh, a Malaysian Hollywood actress, has visited Burma in preparation for a new film about pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in which she will play the lead role.

Nyan Win, spokesman for the 65-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, said that on Monday Yeoh met with the Nobel laureate, as well as with members of the NLD, to research her role in the upcoming film.

“Michelle Yeoh spent all day with Aung San Suu Kyi discussing the film … They met and had a light-hearted discussion—even joking around a bit,” he said.

“She showed us some production stills on her camera from the movie in which she had dressed like Aung San Suu Kyi. The two of them look very much alike and have a similar build.”

Details about the film have not been released, but the Bangkok Post reported that well-known French director Luc Besson will oversee the movie about Aung San Suu Kyi’s life, titled "Dans La Lumiere," and that a French production team is already wrapping up location shooting in Thailand.

Son arranged meeting

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese independence leader General Aung San, had spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest. She was released by the ruling generals on Nov. 13 just after elections which were heavily criticized as a sham by the local opposition and Western powers.

The opposition leader saw off both Yeoh and her youngest son Kim Aris at the airport in Rangoon as they boarded separate flights to Bangkok.

Aris, 33, was allowed to visit Burma for the first time in nearly 10 years after his mother's release and is believed to have arranged the meeting between Suu Kyi and Yeoh.

The Hong Kong-based Yeoh, 48, is best known for her role in the 1997 James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” and was nominated for a BAFTA award for best actress for her role in director Ang Lee’s 2000 box office hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Reported by RFA's Burmese service. Translated by Nyein Shwe. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.